I've been reading this forum for quite a while, but am a new member. I currently train in Saskatoon, Canada with a club of about 6 lifters. My current bests are 110/145 in competition and 115/150 in training (both at 85kg). My goals are to qualify for the World University Games (need a 278 total), to medal at Western Canadians and to finish top 8 at Nationals.

I am just coming back from a wrist injury (Only able to do pulls and squats for the past 8 weeks). I have been back training for about 3 weeks, and have a competition on saturday. The goal is to hit the qualifying total for Nationals with my opener on the clean and jerk and then call it a day (need a 245kg total).

The goal today was to hit 85% of openers (planned openers are 105/140). Everything felt pretty light and fast. Next session is Thursday. Will likely work up to 75% of openers for a few singles, then a few front squats.

Just hit a few light snatches and clean and jerks (about 75-80% of planned openers). They all felt fast and crisp. Tomorrow is the meet. Feeling pretty good. A bit nervous as I haven't been doing the lifts lately due to a wrist injury. However, openers went well last weekend, so it should be good. The only real goal is to hit a 245 total. That would qualify me for Nationals and mean I wouldnt have to cut for the rest of the season. However, my secret goal is to break a 260 total.

Yesterday was the meet. I went 4/6 ending with a 110 snatch and a 140 clean and jerk.

I was pretty nervous going in. Ive only snatched 105 and jerked 140 once in the last 3 months. I've hit a 90kg snatch and a 120 jerk about three times, so I wasn't super confident in hitting the weights I needed to qualify for nationals. That being said, I spent a lot of time doing mental prep for the meet. I had been through the competition dozens of times in my head, which I think really helped.

The warm up went well. My coach did an amazing job timing both myself and my teammates warm ups. Made every lift in the back with ease, and opened at the planned 105 which was an easy lift (video will follow. still uploading to the youtubes). I went 110 next, and made that. I got a bit twisted on this lift. After seeing the video I was a bit surprised I held onto it, but at the time it actually felt pretty easy. This was the first time I've made 110 on the first try in a meet. I took 115 next, which in hindsight was probably a bit ambitious. I've only hit this weight once in training, and I was in outstanding shape at the time. I didnt quite have enough pull to get tight underneath it, and missed it out in front.

The Clean and Jerk has always been my better lift. I was planning on opening 140, but with the 110 snatch I only needed 135 to qualify for nationals. We played it safe and dropped my opener. However the warmups got mis-timed and they called for me when I was doing my last warmup at 130. We changed the opener to 136 to give me a couple more minutes (2 other attempted 135), and I made it pretty easily. We called for 140 next which was a tough clean and I lost the jerk out front. I repeated 140 and made it the second time.

So, the ever important question. What did we learn?

Pros:
- My coach is a CHAMP! I cant imagine competing without this guy.
- Im qualified for nationals after the first qualifying meet.... so thats pretty cool. 5 months of no weight cutting or peaking.
- Mental prep works. I will definitely be putting more focus into this in the future

Cons:
- My snatch needs work. My bottom position is improving, but I am still twisting a bit, which is a problem.
- My cleans were garbage. My best double is 140 and both reps hard better for than they did this weekend. Maybe it was fatigue, or being sick, or cutting weight, but it's still unacceptable. On the day it matters, it's gotta be perfect. I need to make sure my pull is straight and I catch tight EVERY TIME.
- The jerk was sloppy. Back knee locked, recovering back foot first. This needs work. However, I am finally landing on the ball of my back foot instead of letting the heel fall which is awesome.

Now what?
Back to training. Only 5 months to nationals and I want a 280 total. 120/160 is definitely in reach. There are some problems that need to be fixed and drilled with many reps. So we'll likely stay primarily with triples and jerking at the end of workouts to perfect technique under fatigue. Thats all for now. Ill post video soon.

Today was pretty light. First day back after the competition. All the reps felt crisp and light. I'm really excited about getting back to training now that qualification for nationals is out of the way. We have 26 weeks until that meet, so a lot of work to do! Im really excited to improve my technique and increase my strength and work capacity. Snatches today were all pretty close to perfect, and I plan on really ensuring that technique is prioritized over weight. Looking forward to a big year!

Started a new program today. The weights were all pretty light, but the high volume kicked my ass pretty good. Increasing work capacity seems to be the goal of the program for the next 5 week. After that we will reevaluate and make a new plan. Still about 25 weeks from Nationals, so there's a lot of time to work.

Back Squat
worked up to 130x8, got called out by crossfitters at the gym for it being light. Did another set of 140x8.

On Tuesdays I train alone as the rest of the guys only train 3 days a week. The gym is full (its a crossfit) but I'm the only one weightlifting. I find this really tough mentally. Every set was a grind. It might just be getting used to being on a program. The volume is way higher than I've been doing (due to the injury and then trying to prep for a competition), so I'm likely still adapting.

Today was rough. Jerks felt solid. technique was really nice. Cleans also felt good. Keeping the bar pretty tight, but standing up was tougher than usual. My legs are pretty dead. The snatches were brutal. Back and legs were fried. The technique was solid, which is the idea. Drill with light weight under fatigue so it feels heavy... it worked! Squats were pretty easy. They were nice quick reps. Will likely try to push this a bit more next week if all is feeling good.

Legs were dead today. Standing up with snatches had my quads feeling tired. My best clean and jerk triple ever is 120kg, so 115 is pretty good for the first week of the first program of the season. Lots of room for improvement. Still getting used to the volume. I feel pretty beat up, but tomorrow is a rest/recovery day. Will be getting to the pool for some light swimming/hot tub/steam. Hopefully feeling a bit better by Monday.